title: Musculoskeletal pain in gynecologic surgeons.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and symptoms in gynecologic surgeons.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cross-sectional survey study (Canadian Task Force classification II-2).
  
  
  METHODS
  Virtual. All study participants were contacted and participated via electronic means.
  
  
  METHODS
  Gynecologic surgeons.
  
  
  METHODS
  An anonymous, web-based survey was distributed to gynecologic surgeons via electronic newsletters and direct E-mail.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 495 respondents with complete data. When respondents were queried about their musculoskeletal symptoms in the past 12 months, they reported a high prevalence of lower back (75.6%) and neck (72.9%) pain and a slightly lower prevalence of shoulder (66.6%), upper back (61.6%), and wrist/hand (60.9%) pain. Many respondents believed that performing surgery caused or worsened the pain, ranging from 76.3% to 82.7% in these five anatomic regions. Women are at an approximately twofold risk of pain, with adjusted odds ratios (OR) of 1.88 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-3.2; p = .02) in the lower back region, OR 2.6 (95% CI, 1.4-4.8; p = .002) in the upper back, and OR 2.9 (95% CI, 1.8-4.6; p = .001) in the wrist/hand region.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Musculoskeletal symptoms are highly prevalent among gynecologic surgeons. Female sex is associated with approximately twofold risk of reported pain in commonly assessed anatomic regions.
authors.affiliation: Division of Urogynecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, MA; Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Electronic address: prosenbl@mah.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Sonia R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: Michele R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Hacker
authors.forename: Jessica L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: McKinney
authors.forename: Eman A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Elkadry
authors.forename: Peter L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Rosenblatt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D013509:Gynecologic Surgical Procedures; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059352:Musculoskeletal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Disorders; Gynecology; Musculoskeletal; Pain; Surgeons